誠品畫廊將於二○二○年十二月二十五日至二○二一年一月二十三日舉辦「陳道明個展」。陳道明一九三一年生，十八歲隨家人定居台灣，之後進入台北師範學院就讀，在台灣國內西畫興盛之時，於李仲生畫室接受一對一的引導式教學，在他的啟迪之下，不斷在繪畫上精益求精、淬鍊出獨特的個人繪畫語言，同時與李仲生其他學生如歐陽文苑、霍剛、蕭勤、李元佳、吳昊、夏陽及蕭明賢等人結為切磋繪畫的好友。當年每月定期帶新作參加聚會，彼此批評討論，在一九五五年組織成「東方畫會」。五月畫會和東方畫會當年一個在五月開展，一個在十一月開展，以藝術相互較勁，推動台灣現代美術的發展，他們的展覽有如法國巴黎的春季和秋季沙龍一般，成為每年藝術界的盛事。五○年代時，陳道明專事於塗鴉性強的速寫創作，是一種近乎意識流的自然抒發，回應著戰後世界性繪畫抽象化的脈動。 六○年代以降，嘗試多類媒材的實驗，意圖表達一種蒼涼掙扎的戰後情境，作品中圖像符號已被抽離為最簡單的點、線、面元素。此時期畫作的色譜多屬灰褐色調，畫布上細密的皺褶、斑駁變化在強光的照耀下折射出閃爍華麗的光彩。
後來八大響馬相繼各奔東西在藝術的世界中各自打拼，此時陳道明亦有了家庭，雖然為了生活他必須從事藝術以外的工作，在這段時間仍孜孜不倦地的創作，如有展出機會亦持續參與。七○年代時期，在旅歐藝術家蕭勤的策動下，東方畫會先後於西班牙、意大利及美國等地巡迴展出。陳道明以卓越的繪畫在徵選過程中獲得首獎，取得參加巴西聖保羅雙年展的資格。之後也在香港亞洲國際美展獲得銀牌獎，就連席德進都因欣賞他的畫而自掏腰包收藏，也是為了鼓勵他用錢來買顏料，在創作的路上持續努力。
一九八○年之後，壓克力、水彩等水性顏料的流暢性，渲染性取代了厚重濃鬱的油彩，而大片留白營造出視覺上自由瀏覽的時間性空間，呼應著藝術家年少時期學習國畫的心境，追求氣韻生動的精神理念，亦回應著作者對幼年成長的黃土高原，那開闊寬廣自然的鄉愁。
陳道明每畫完一張畫，便要思索下一張畫，永遠追求超越、突破並絕不重複。多樣的色彩層次變化和有如雕塑的肌理讓人聯想到跳動的音符和美麗的旋律，他以光的表現代表動態和時間的推移，許多人看到他的畫，總會為他在色彩和技巧的掌控度感到懾服，然而對陳道明而言，他的重點在於創作的過程，他要跨越無意識以進入意識之外的境界，畫出自己的思想、觀念和最深處的感受，而就在這追尋和探索的過程中他獲得了無窮的樂趣。他說：「作品的意義是心靈意識活動的一種記錄，原則上是抽象的，我在表達內在生命意象的過程中，盡量不受任何干擾，以求達到沒有結論又有結論的境界，美的醜的，本身即是獨立完整的生命，我只不過用我的語言把感覺訴諸畫面而已。」

Tommy CHEN was born in 1931 in Jinan, Shandong and at the age of 18, he moved to Taiwan with his family and began studies at the National Taipei University of Education. Dissatisfied with the school’s stifling education system, CHEN sought guidance in LI Chung-sheng’s studio and developed a unique and personal painting language, as well as became friends in art with other LI’s other students such as HUO Gang, XIAO Qin, and HSIA Yang, who together founded Ton-Fan Art Group in 1955. In the 1950s, CHEN specialized in sketches that streamed the natural expression of consciousness as a response to the post-war international pulse of abstract painting. During the 1960s, CHEN began to experiment with many types of media to express a bleak post-war struggle situation. His images have broken away from symbols to rely on points, line, and texture. His paintings were mostly gray and brown toned, and he would mix copper grease with oil paints to produce rich textures that would shine and flicker under light. In the 1970s, CHEN was busy with international activities, such as the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil, where he received the First Prize, International Youth Exhibition in Paris, and the Asian International Art Exhibition in Hong Kong, where he received high honors.
His style changed after 1980 to contain more fluidity and large untouched blank spaces on the canvas to allow the mind to freely wander in time to pursue a vivacious spirit. He also sought to express the nostalgia for the vast plateau landscape in which he spent his childhood years. The fluctuations in color as well as the sculptural texture of CHEN’s works are reminiscent of the jumping beats of a beautiful melody. Usually people feel a need to control color and technique, but CHEN focuses on the creative process, wanting to unleash the unconscious into the conscious. He says, “The works are records of the activity of my inner spirit. The principle is abstract, and I express my inner life with as little interference as possible – the beautiful, the ugly, they are all independent and full of life. I just use my language to expose these feelings.”